It seems hard to watch someone yawn（打哈欠） and not to yawn ourselves. Even reading about yawning can make you do it. Now, a new study has found why yawning has such a powerful force.
Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of pity and a form of social connection. Kids don’t develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found. Kids with autism (自闭症) are less likely to catch yawns. In the most serious cases, they never do. Yawning might help doctors to see whether the children are developing rightly. The work could also lead to a better understanding of the ways that people communicate and connect.
“Emotional infection seems to be a born thing that connects us together,” said Molly Helt, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Connecticut. “Yawning may be part of that.” Inspiration for her study came when she tried to get her own autistic son to clear his ears on an airplane. She repeatedly yawned at him, hoping he would yawn back. He never did.
“The fact that autistic kids don’t do it might mean they’re really missing out on that emotional connection with people around them, ” she said. “The biggest thing people try to figure out after birth is how we become humans and understand that humans have minds that are different from others’," she added. "Autistic people never seem to understand that.”
Like infectious （有感染力的）laughter and crying, scientists have found that yawning is a shared experience that promotes social connection. Helt said it could fight stress after a period of being nervous and spread a feeling of calm through a group.According to the first two paragraphs, what does the new study suggest?
| A．Yawning is a form of communication. |
| B．It is easy to stop yawning when you see others yawn. |
| C．Children follow others in yawning just after they are born. |
| D．Yawning has some mysterious force which is related to God. |
According to Molly Helt, _______.
| A．humans differ from animals because they communicate with others |
| B．yawning is a kind of emotional connection among humans |
| C．emotions are infectious, but yawning is not |
| D．yawning helps clear ears on planes |
Which of the following is NOT true about yawning?
| A．It is natural to yawn back if people around you yawn. |
| B．Some kids are too young to yawn after others. |
| C．Yawning can be used to test children’s development. |
| D．Kids with autism yawn easily when others yawn. |
The author implies in the last paragraph that _______.
| A．yawning can make people feel relaxed |
| B．it is bad manners to yawn on some social occasions |
| C．the more you yawn, the happier you will be |
| D．yawning is different from infectious laughter and crying in theory |
Two traveling angels (天使) stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor，the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune，I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed，the angel of death(死神) came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”The underlined part “the pair” in the second paragraph two refers to .
| A．the poor couple | B．the rich couple | C．the angels | D．the guests |
The younger angel was very angry because .
| A．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow |
| B．the older angel treated the two families unfairly |
| C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live |
| D．the angel of death took the cow away |
Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?
| A．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow. |
| B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson. |
| C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich. |
| D．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife. |
The story tries to tell the reader that .
| A．sometimes things are not what they seem |
| B．angels are always ready to help the poor |
| C．angels are always ready to help the rich |
| D．the young should always learn from the old |
All too often, a choice that seems sustainable(可持续的)turns out on closer examination to be problematic. Probably the best example is the rush to produce ethanol(乙醇) for fuel from corn. Corn is a renewable resource —you can harvest it and grow more, almost limitlessly. So replacing gas with corn ethanol seems like a great idea.
One might get a bit more energy out of the ethanol than that used to make it, which could still make ethanol more sustainable than gas generally, but that’s not the end of the problem. Using corn to make ethanol means less corn is left to feed animals and people, which drives up the cost of food. That result leads to turning the fallow land –including, in some cases, rain forest in places such as Brazil—into farmland, which in turn gives off lots of carbon dioxide (CO) into the air. Finally, over many years, the energy benefit from burning ethanol would make up for the forest loss. But by then, climate change would have progressed so far that it might not help.
You cannot really declare any practice “sustainable” until you have done a complete life-cycle analysis of its environmental(环境的) costs. Even then, technology and public keep developing, and that development can lead to unforeseen and undesired results. The admirable goal of living sustainably requires plenty of thought on an ongoing basis.What might directly cause the loss of the forest according to the text?
| A．The growing demand for energy to make ethanol |
| B．The increasing carbon dioxide in the air |
| C．The greater need for farmland |
| D．The big change in weather. |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “ ”
| A．the energy benefit | B．the forest loss |
| C．climate change | D．burning ethanol |
The author thinks that replacing gas with corn ethanol is .
| A．impractical | B．acceptable | C．admirable | D．useless |
What does the author mainly discuss in the text?
| A．Technology | B．Sustainability |
| C．Ethanol energy | D．Environmental protection |
Nowadays more and more people are trapped in too busy work to relax themselves. We have no time to tell a bed-time story to our children, or enjoy a nice dinner with our family, or take a break to think about how we live the precious life, or even meet friends. All we notice is that the distinctions that used to guide and steady us —between Sunday and Monday, public and private, here and there—are gone. We have more ways to communicate, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating.
Maybe that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious belief, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi. Some friends of mine try to go on long walks every Sunday, or to “forget” their cell phones at home. A series of tests in recent years has shown that their brains become both calmer and sharper after spending time in quiet rural settings.
In my own case, I often turn to extreme measures to try to keep my sanity and ensure that I have time to do nothing at all. I’ve not yet used a cell phone and I’ve never Tweeted or entered Face book. I try not to go online till my day’s writing is finished, and I moved from Manhattan to rural Japan.
None of this is a matter of principle or asceticism (苦行主义): it’s just pure selfishness. Nothing makes me feel better-----calmer, clearer and happier----than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” That is the highest of the highest we have been longing for—The Joy of Quiet. The writer sometimes doesn’t do anything because ________.
| A．he is out of work |
| B．whatever he does makes no sense |
| C．he can enjoy himself in his leisure time |
| D．he is worried about his writing |
What does the writer mean when using the word “forget” (in the 2nd paragraph)?
| A．Trapped in busy work, they are really forgetful. |
| B．They think cell phone is not a suitable means of communication. |
| C．They leave their cell phones at home on purpose. |
| D．They hate modern techniques such as the cell phone. |
Which of the following is right?
| A．The writer is unwilling to help others since he is selfish. |
| B．Slowing down to find deep-down joy is necessary. |
| C．It is better to go back to the ancient times since we are so busy now. |
| D．We have more to say because we have more ways to communicate. |
What is the main idea of the article?
| A．The importance of spending time in quiet. |
| B．We can do some sports such as yoga to relax. |
| C．To feel better, we should do nothing at all. |
| D．The more we communicate, the better we will feel. |
On a freezing-cold February morning in Indiana, Jhaqueil Reagan,18, left home to walk to a job interview—ten miles away, over snow-covered roads.
Reagan had been looking for work for months. His mother had died two years earlier, and he was the only caretaker of his younger brother, Cole, 16, and sister, Jazzlyn, seven. He was desperate for a regular salary after cutting lawns(草坪) and doing other temporaryjobs.
Three hours into his hard trip, Reagan had covered only three miles. He paused outside a Cajun restaurant called Papa Roux to ask for directions from owner Art Bouvier, who was clearing ice and snow from the parking lot. “I told him to get on the bus,” says Bouvier. “He thanked me and went on his way.”
Fifteen minutes later, Bouvier pulled up in his car beside Reagan as he walked along. “You’ve really got to be on the bus,” he told Reagan. “I don’t have money for the bus,” Reagan replied. Bouvier offered him a lift. On the way, he asked the boy about his job search.
“I thought, This is the kind of kid I want working for me,” says Bouvier. He got the teen’s phone number and dropped him off for his interview.
Later that day, Bouvier wrote about Reagan on Facebook. “He doesn’t know it yet, but he starts on Monday,” Bouvier wrote. “It’s been a while since I’ve met someone so young with a work ethic(伦理) like that!” A few hours later, Bouvier called to offer Reagan a job. Shocked, the teen accepted on the spot. A television reporter caught wind of the story and interviewed the pair on camera that night.
Today, Reagan is washing dishes, filling orders, and greeting Papa Roux customers for $8.50 an hour. The publicity(宣传) has brought in so many new customers that Bouvier plans to open a second restaurant by the end of the year.Why did Jhaqueil Reagan have to find a job ?
| A．Because he had to make enough money to support his family. |
| B．Because his parents had died two years earlier. |
| C．Because he wanted to change his job. |
| D．Because he was desperate for a good job. |
Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined part in the sixth paragraph ?
| A．reported | B．delivered | C．heard | D．told |
Which of the following words best describes Bouvier?
| A．honest | B．warm-hearted | C．modest | D．independent |
What’s the best title of the passage ?
| A．A Young Man Who Had an Interview | B．A Young Man Who Found a Job |
| C．A Boss Who Offered a Job | D．A Boss Who Took a Chance |
Good Housekeeping has discovered that even if a child wear a helmet when she bikes, or skates, it may not protect her from a serious head injury.
Every year, 390,000 children under age 15 go to hospital emergency rooms with bike-related injuries. Of that number, about one third children suffer head injuries and an estimated 200 die. By wearing a helmet, a child can reduce her risk of injury by as much as 85 percent. But remember —— a bicycle helmet must fit properly to be safe. Here are five steps to making sure your child's helmet fits properly.
1) If you haven't bought your child's helmet already, you might want to consider one with a rear stabilizer(稳定杆). A rear stabilizer holds the back of the head gently and helps the helmet stay correctly positioned.
2) The helmet should fit closely and shouldn't slide from side to side or front to back. If your child can put two fingers on both temples inside the helmet, it's too big. Try a smaller size. But if the next size down is too small, use the fit pads(护垫). Fit pads come in different sizes and attach to the helmet with Velcro.
3) Tell your child to open her mouth widely and ask if she can feel the helmet push down onto the top of her head. If she can't, you need to readjust her helmet.
4) To prevent strap slippage, wind a rubber band around the strap where it meets the fastener.
5) Recheck the fit regularly.
You should replace the bicycle helmet:
If she has been in an accident with it.
If the buckle(金属扣) breaks or if a piece breaks off.
If it doesn't have a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, American Society for Testing and Materials, or Snell Memorial Foundation sticker.
If it doesn't fit correctly. Even if the helmet fit perfectly two years ago, it might be too small now.Who is this passage mainly written for?
| A．Children. | B．Teachers. | C．Parents. | D．helmet producers. |
What does the author mainly want to stress in the second paragraph?
| A．The bike-related injury is a serious threat to the children. |
| B．The bicycle helmets must fit properly while the children are biking. |
| C．It’s necessary for the children to wear helmets while biking. |
| D．Many students suffer bike-related injuries every year. |
If a girl finds a helmet a little bit big for her head, what should she do?
| A．She must buy a smaller size. |
| B．She can use some fit pads. |
| C．She can put fingers on both temples inside the helmet. |
| D．She must make helmet slide from side to side. |
Phil White, a father, found the buckle of his girl’s helmet broken, he can_______
| A．buy a new bicycle helmet for her |
| B．mend the bicycle helmet himself |
| C．continue to use the bicycle helmet |
| D．throw away the broken buckle |